SOROS BACKS BRITISH PUSH TO DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) Financier and philanthropist George Soros on
Sunday endorsed a British newspaper campaign for the decriminalization of
marijuana, saying arrests in connection with the drug were a waste of
justice resources.

In a letter to the Independent on Sunday newspaper in London, released by a
New Yorkbased drug policy research center funded by his Open Society
Institute, Soros said he hoped others would join the drive.

"While I do not favor the outright legalization of cannabis, I do favor its
legalization for medicinal purposes as well as broader decriminalization,
provided adequate safeguards are taken to minimize misuse among young
people," he said.

"It's a shame that the American War on Drugs continues to block these
efforts to remove sanctions on doctors and patients to treat pain and
nausea with whatever medications work," Soros said.

"Even more tragic is the fact that marijuana arrests in the U.S. have more
than doubled since 1991. This has been an absurd waste of our criminal
justice resources," the letter said.

Soros said a conference on cannabis organized by the paper was a "timely
step" toward a "more rational" drug policy in Britain and he believed it
would influence the policy debate in the United States.

He said in the United States he was proud to have supported voter
initiatives to legalize the medical use of marijuana and he would continue
to support such activities in the future.

Copyright 1997 Reuters Ltd.